Spy

Description

The Spy is a gatherer of information. At the lowest level, he is a common informant, an eavesdropper with his ears open for salable information. The expert Spy is hired by guilds and governments to infiltrate opponents' buildings and ranks to find vital, secret knowledge.
To take the Spy kit, a thief must have a minimum Intelligence of 11.

Role

Spies are vital in supporting any large organization such as a guild or government. Information is the key to success, whether thieves are preparing for a burglary or a nation is preparing for war, and the Spy's role is to provide that information.
Most Spies are in the permanent service of one such organization. A small number may be double (or triple) agents, but that is very risky. A few are freelance, and their main problem is this: to find employment, they must be known; but if they're known, they have difficulty being successful.
Spies may come from any background. A large percentage, in fact, are from the lower classes, close in touch with the word on the street and all the secret channels of society. A smaller number of elite Spies exist, either in permanent positions (e.g., a count who reports word on his liege's troop movemements to a rival kingdom, or a treacherous castle steward). Most of these characters would not be of the Spy rogue kit, since spying is secondary; the focus of their life is (or at least was) something else.
But there are also talented individuals ready to go anywhere, risk any danger, and encounter a lot of excitement on the way to finding the knowledge they seek. They excel at infiltration, in finding information, not just in selling what they know. Exciting Spies, and player characters, are usuallv of this sort.
The standard penalty for spying (if the crime is beyond the low levels of spreading rumors. eavesdropping, and scoping out potential burglary targets) is death, and Spies from one nation to another can hardly expect anything in the line of "diplomatic immunity."

Weapon Proficiencies

The normal range of weapons open for thieves' proficiencies applies to Spies as well, and they are not required to take any in particular. A Spy can use non-thief weapons (for the purpose of disguises), but cannot take proficiency in them.
Example: To help impersonate a castle guard, a Spy carries a halberd. He could use it combat, but he would suffer a nonproficiency penalty. To increase his chances of success, he would probably switch to a different. familiar weapon — even a dagger or knife — unless circumstances prohibit it (e.g., people around him would be surprised to see him not using the halberd, and might thereby see through the disguise).

Nonweapon Proficiencies

Bonus

Disguise, Information Gathering, Observation

Recommended

Alertness, Begging, Etiquette, Forgery, Heraldry, Local History, Reading/Writing, Reading Lips, Trailing

Skill Progression

An effective Spy usually needs a fairly even distribution of thief skills, since his vocation can bring him into any number of diverse situations.

Equipment

Spies in the medieval setting don't have all the fancy gadgetry of their modern counterparts. They may equip themselves liberally with what is available, however, such as boots with hidden compartments in the soles, thieves' equipment, and so forth. See the later chapter on equipment for a host of ideas.

Special Benefits

None

Special Hindrances

None

Races

Elves and half-elves, with their love for knowledge, are especially predisposed toward this kit. However, the problem that all demihuman Spies face is the difficulty of appearing disguised as a member of another race. They therefore risk having a rather limited range of professional assignments.

[Complete Thief's Handbook]